Be Careful What You Wish For
by gregorybeans
Summary: Harry goes back to his parents' 6th Year...7&8 up: Hermione finds out that some people aren't exactly used to her yelling...or are too happy about it.
1. Prologue

Be Careful What You Wish For  
  
A/N: This IS my first fic, so be nice. I wouldn't stop thinking about writing this when I was playing video games and so I finally decided to. Well, sorry!! Okay, I really wanted to write this, but my evil brother was on the computer, and...well, enough about that, just read, review, and...wait for the update.  
  
Chapter One:  
  
It was still summer, and Harry Potter was absolutely dreading the time when he would have to wake up and start chores for his Aunt Petunia. It was only 5:37 on his clock. He was still completely depressed about Sirius' death. The last thing he wanted to do was chores. If anything, he'd rather be with his friends, who hadn't written to him in 3 weeks. But, unfortunately, time passed all too quickly, and before he had time to think about anything, his aunt was pounding furiously at his door waking him up.  
His extremely overweight cousin, Dudley, was parading down the hallway and sounded more like a herd of elephants. But, Dudley wasn't just overweight. He hated everyone he was around, and Harry guessed inside his own mind, that the list had Dudley's own 'friends' on it, too. Of course, Dudley wouldn't turn down food if it was poisoned, and that made Harry nauseous almost everyday; the way Dudley ate. He was surprised his heart hadn't collapsed yet. Yet, Harry always had hope.  
Aunt Petunia looked up at him. After looking at his anorexic- looking body, she said, "Today, you are going to mow the lawn, wash all the windows, and clean the bathroom." Harry nodded. Another thing he had learned not to do is not to argue with anyone in the household; especially not the deadly Uncle Vernon. Though his chores weren't going to be that hard, since the Dursleys always kept their bathroom clean, same with the windows, and the lawn was practically competing with the neighbors', it wouldn't be too long. 'It should only take about an hour,' Harry thought, not even touching his food. 'It's a good thing, too. It's pretty hot outside. Maybe, if I leave now, I won't have to spend too much time out in the sun.' Possibly, his aunt did have something on her soul that wasn't completely black and burnt. Harry smiled at his idiotic thought. 'Aunt Petunia... have a soul...at all...good one, self.'  
  
Through the chores, Harry was extremely hot, and was finally thankful the Dursleys had one thing when he went to clean the bathroom: an air conditioner. After cleaning the bathroom, Harry went to his room to visit his owl, Hedwig. As he  
  
continued walking down the hall, He heard something that sounded like two birds fighting. Quickening his pace, he opened the door, where he stood in awe as there were feathers floating about the air. He stepped through the clouds of white and tan feathers, each step, looking for his owl. 'So territorial...' he thought as he picked Hedwig up off the desk, stroking her. "And here I thought the males were supposed to be territorial. Oh well, I don't know all that much about owls, I just have one for company," said Harry, putting Hedwig by her cage. 'Now, to find the co-disturbance.' He thought. Ron's owl was sitting perched on the window sill, still breathing hard from the territory war between he and Hedwig. "Come here, Pig." He said, lifting him carefully off of the window.  
Picking up the letter from Ron, Harry practically tore it open with relief. Finally, one of his friends wrote to him.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
WHY IN GOD'S NAME HAVEN'T YOU BEEN WRITING??? Everyone here's really worried about you. At the Burrow, at least. Have you been getting any writing from Hermione? She said she'd write, and also says that Hedwig came to her a few days ago. Anyway, just write back if and when you get this.  
  
Ron  
  
'Shouldn't he have written first?' Harry thought. 'I wrote to the Order, anyway, shouldn't that be good enough?' he rolled his eyes at this. 'Anyway, to that Hermione letter...' he thought looking over at Hedwig. Sure enough, was proudly holding a letter in her beak. He took the letter from her and looked at it. "This is no ordinary letter." He said to his owl. Looking down at the red envelope, he said, "Why does she have to act like...my mother?" He swallowed hard and stuck his arm inside his closet, closing the door as far as he could. Holding the letter in his hand, he tore it open, ready for the explosion.  
He knew Hermione would never miss the opportunity for getting to screech at him when Ron wasn't available. He closed his eyes as Hermione's voice flooded throughout his room, telling him how irresponsible he is, and then her voice somewhat calmed and said she missed him, and really can't wait to see him again. Harry smiled at this. Hermione wasn't really the type to stay mad...at him, anyway. He wrote back saying he was sorry, and that he would try to write more often to her.  
He then sent Hedwig and Pig on their ways to Hermione and Ron. After he made sure they were out of sight, he began collecting Hedwig's pure, white feathers and putting them in a jar. As much as  
  
he missed his school, the days passed by with the same things going on: Wake up, cook breakfast, do chores, cook lunch, do more chores, cook dinner, sleep...etc, etc. Although, his days didn't go as he would have liked. Instead of just normal weather, he received boiling temperatures of 90 degrees or more, and his nights, well, let's just say, he didn't exactly get to sleep. He continuously had nightmares about Sirius and Cedric dying, constantly revisiting the graveyard and Department of Mysteries. To Harry's well-liking, summer was over quick, and August 31st came, and he couldn't have been happier. By this time, he was with Hermione and the Weasleys, buying his new school books at Flourish and Blotts.  
The following night, he was sleeping in his four- poster bed in the boys' dormitories. It felt so good to be back. 


	2. His Own Problems

Chapter 2: Only His Problems  
  
The first few classes weren't as hard as any of the 6th year students would have thought. If there was anything wrong with any of them, it would probably have to be Potions. One of Snape's new nicknames for Harry had turned out to be 'Arrogant, self-absorbed egoist', which wasn't true. Malfoy's new nickname for him was 'Pothead'. This was more over something that described Dudley, not him. When did he ever learn about drugs, anyway? Harry thought.  
Though the first few days were fine, he started to feel really stressed about all the homework. Unfortunately, along with his homework, Ginny had decided to give him back his spot on the Quidditch team. He stayed up past midnight, and nearly fell asleep during one of Angelina's pep-talks before the games. She was halfway through, and he had his head barely propped up against a wall, and was so tired...then he felt a sharp jab in the ribcage, and found she wasn't too happy with it.  
But he wasn't going to give up so easily so early in the school year. Even though every night was just another headache, and every day another battle to stay awake. He wasn't exactly too pleased with many of the teachers. If anything, the only thing good about school now was the weekends. He had been too tired to say anything, and if he did, it was immediately interrupted by a long yawn. "Harry, have you even been getting sleep?" Ron asked him the next day. No response. "Harry, hello, anyone there? Hello? Come on, answer me already." Ron said, waving his hand in front of his face.  
Ron bored himself of this, and immediately took a small book and slammed it hard on the back of Harry's head. "Oh, huh? What?" "Yeah, I thought so. Not even paying attention." Ron said as if he were actually disappointed. "Sorry, what did you want?" Harry asked innocently. "I asked you if you had been getting any sleep lately whatsoever." "Yeah, of course, why?" Harry lied. "Because, you fall asleep in class, and then you get extra homework, you don't talk to anyone at all, and you have bags under your eyes. That's why." "Ron, if I..." Harry yawned loudly. "If I hadn't been talking to anyone at all, then how would I be talking to you? Think about it..." "I—I—, well, I mean, you almost never talk to anyone at all." "Oh, sure. Well, I should getting homework my now finished be." "Huh?" "I should be getting my homework finished now." "Oh. Well, I'm going to go to bed. I will see you in a half-hour, right?" "Oh, yeah, sure." Harry said, practically ignoring him.  
Ron awoke the next morning to see that Harry wasn't even in his bed. He nearly jogged down to the common room, and saw Harry still up, reading. "Of all the things, reading. You're turning into a young Hermione Granger." Harry jumped at the sound of his male best-friend's voice. "Oh, hey, Ron." He said lowly. "I'm just checking a few spells before class." "Harry, every moment is 'before class', how long have you been reading?" "Oh, Ron, I dunno, 4 or 5 hours, maybe?" Ron's jaw dropped. He couldn't even pay attention for 20 minutes. "Harry, you never even went to bed did you?"  
  
"Nope, I don't think so. But this book is just so...so...interesting." Ron picked up the book. "'Hogwarts: A History?' Of all the books." Ron turned the front cover over, "'Property of Hermione Granger', and let it be known; for once, I WAS right." Ron said proudly. Then, his expression changed. "How could you? Come on, of all the ways to get over boredom...but reading??" He asked disappointedly. "Sorry, Ron, but I really can't think of much else to do. I mean, all that it was was sitting there on the table, and I was wondering what Hermione—" "'What Hermione' what?" there came the voice of Harry's female best-friend.  
  
Harry was about to say something when Ron spoke up for him.  
"Harry here was just telling me how absolutely interesting your book is, Hermione." Ron said as if he were making a fake impression to impress someone with a compliment. "Really? Well, I'm glad one of you two finally decided to read it." Hermione said happily. Harry retrieved the closed book and re-opened it again to the page he was reading. Hermione didn't get a good look at his face; he kept it facing the table. "Listen, Hermione, I really need to talk to you." Said Ron quickly, dragging her off to the staircase, abandoning Harry at the table. "Hermione, it is not a good thing that he's reading that book. He's been reading it all night. He's going to suffer from sleep deprivation, and--- and he's just not going to be able to go on like this. Haven't you noticed that he's got pitch black bags under his eyes?" Hermione looked somewhat impressed that Ron actually showed some sense of caring for someone beside himself. She tilted her head and moved it around to get a better look at her friend still sitting at the table.  
"Ron, I'll talk to him, okay?" she said calmly. She turned on her heel, and walked over to the table. "Harry? Harry? Is that a good book you're reading there?" She asked first. "Yeah, uh-huh." He responded still reading. She was absolutely not satisfied. She was pretty smart, and knowing that he had reflexes quicker than he could think about it, she tore the glasses off of his face, making his head snap up and look at her, trying to understand what she was thinking. Hermione's face was dumbstruck. Ron was right. There were bags under his eyes. She sighed. "When was the last time you went to sleep?" She asked quietly. "Oh, I don't know, maybe when we first got back, or..." "Since we got back??? That was a month ago!!"  
  
"Really? I hadn't noticed." "That's it. You are going to the hospital wing, you are going to sleep for at least 3 days, and you will feel better when you get up." Said Hermione, her voice softening as she went. "Now, come on, get up." She said lifting him up out of the chair. He was amazingly light. "Have you eaten anything either?" "Maybe some water or some bread..." "God, let's hurry. You might die before we can get to the hospital wing." She said. She expected him to follow, but she heard a loud thud on the floor, and found that his knees must have collapsed before he could go two steps. "Oh, great. Someday, this better be vice-versa." She said, picking him up off the floor, and carrying his extremely light body down to the hospital wing.  
Lying him down on a bed, Hermione explained to Madame Pompfrey that he wasn't eating or sleeping. "Very well." Was all the nurse said. "Now, I'll be back later with some food, and you will eat it, won't you?" she asked him. "Of course, if it'll make you happy." Was all he said before dozing off. 


	3. Decisions, Decisions

Chapter 3: Decisions, Decisions...  
  
Harry awoke early the next morning, well, that's what he thought. Hermione, as if on cue, came in the door as he opened his eyes. She squealed with delight and dropped her bag on the floor next to her. She smiled. "How long have I been asleep?" Harry asked. "Well, 4 days. How long have you been up?" "About a 35 seconds." "Wow, I should consider an acting career..." "Hermione?" "What?" "I may have slept, but I'm hungry now and..." Harry said innocently. "Oh, come on, get your own food." "But Hermione, my knees will drop, and I'll break my leg and slowly, painfully, perish away..." "Drama king. Fine. I'll get your stinking food." She finally said, making Harry smile. He heard something about how lazy he is before she continued walking away.  
  
Hermione came back about 10 minutes later with a mountain of food, and said, "Now, eat all of this, and it'll make me feel better because you look anorexic, and that is definitely not healthy." She said, taking a seat on the bed. "All of it?" Harry asked. "Yes, all of it." Hermione answered. "Well, I must say, nobody's taken care of me like this since...I was 14." He said, sitting up in his bed. "You don't need all of the attention all the time, you know." "Yes I do." "Don't." "Do." "Don't." "Do." "Don't." "Don't." "Do." "HA!!" "God, Harry, why must you actually start acting childish at this point of your young life?" "Dunno. It's like a...reflex." "Do you even know what that is?" "Nope. But that's what I've got you for. You're the human dictionary." "Oh, was that a compliment?" "Sort of."  
  
That night, Harry couldn't sleep. Even after his immense pile of food that he'd vomited after Hermione left, and his stomach wasn't so full anymore, he was still thinking, 'G-U-I-L-T-Y. Guilty, guilty, guilty.' He could fall asleep, but every time he did, he had a dream that he was in a court...  
  
"Mr. Potter, you are being charged with the murder of Sirius Black. Several people say you had no reason to murder this man. You are also being charged with murder in the first degree. How do you plead?" "Guilty, your honor." "You are sentenced to life in a hole of depression and guilt."  
  
He woke up. He was still in the hospital bed. Harry missed his bed, his bed in the dormitory. He also missed Hedwig. She'd gone out to deliver a letter to Fred and George's Shop in Diagon Alley. He was ordering some stuff from them. 'God, Hedwig, hurry up.' He thought. He sat in his bed all night long, and unfortunately, it was a Hogsmeade weekend, and Hermione and Ron were leaving the next morning. He was being abandoned.  
Though they promised him that night that they would bring him something back, he still felt as if he were being disowned by his best friends. It had only been 10:30 when he had awoken from the dream after he fell asleep at 10:00. How was he going to explain this to Ron and Hermione? That he couldn't sleep after all the food, and that he just had a horrible stomach ache? "You'd think they'd figure it out by now, but no, they won't even mention his name. It's as if he never even existed. Nobody talks about him anymore. I bet they don't even think about Sirius." He said to himself.  
The next morning, Harry picked up a mirror that was on the table, and looked at himself. "Hair, messy as normal. Eyes, just as nice. Eyes...not just as nice..." he said to himself as he saw the horrible bags that had disappeared the night before back again. "Great, now they will wonder."  
  
In Hogsmeade, Hermione and Ron were sitting in the Three Broomsticks talking. "He's not going to get much better." Said Hermione. "Sure he will, he's the Boy-Who-Lived." Said Ron proudly. "No, he's a depressed 16-year-old who absolutely despises the way he lived up to age 11, and the way he's treated every summer, along with his hatred for the Slytherins." Hermione said, as if to protect her other friend's purpose.  
"Okay, but still, how come we just can't confront him-?" "Because if we confront him, it will make him more upset than he already is, and if you do that he might go...over the edge." "You mean..." Ron ran his finger over his throat. Hermione nodded. Ron's eyes widened at this thought.  
"Well, Ron, it's time to go. Come on." Hermione said as she and Ron walked out of the Three Broomsticks, towards the crowd of the other students.  
  
Back in the hospital wing, Harry waited impatiently, and tried to sleep, but couldn't. He heard footsteps coming from the doorway, and lifted his head up just in time to see his two friends entering. He tried to sit up in his bed with what little strength he had left, but with no avail. Ron made his way over to him and helped him get propped up against the pillows.  
Everything that happened the past night wasn't talked about, and they continued joking around. "So, Harry, how are you feeling, mate?" Ron asked after a huge laughing fit was caused when Ron acted as if he were afraid of pillows. "Fine. I mean, I don't feel all that weak or anything and I really think I've been getting more sleep," he lied. Everyone in the room knew he was lying, but nobody said anything against it.  
Because, in truth, he wasn't fine, he was weaker than Neville in front of Snape, and he hadn't had any sleep. "Wow, by the look of your eyes, it doesn't look like you've been getting any sleep."  
  
If anything, he'd rather die now than stay in that state. Hermione gave Harry a 'you've-been-lying-to-us-all-along-haven't-you' kind of look. Harry nodded a little. He did have some of the best friends a guy could have, and about 1,000,000 people counting on him to save their lives from Lord Voldemort. But he knew that no matter what, he had to do it, and if he didn't succeed, then he would wind up back in the hospital, and everyone would hate him. He sighed. "I'm getting tired. I think I'm going to go to bed," said Harry all of a sudden. "Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow," said Ron.  
Hermione threw her bag over her shoulder, and dropped a piece of paper on the bed before walking away. She looked over her shoulder, smiled, and continued walking. Harry looked strangely at the piece of paper before unfolding it.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
Why on earth do you continue to avoid us? We can make things better, but you have to understand. Eating disorders are bad for you, just as sleeping disorders are. If you do not eat or sleep, you will never get any better and you will quickly die. So please make things better, we're worried about you, and you know it!! But, if you honestly want to get over...well, you know, then you're going to have to eat and sleep, and then I'll be completely satisfied. When I first took you to the hospital wing, you were so light; it was like...holding Crookshanks or Hedwig. That's really bad for you, because you are 16 and should weigh more than that. Anyway, hope you get better soon. Goodnight.  
  
Hermione  
  
Harry finished reading the letter. It wasn't really his fault he threw up any food that was given to him, because he hadn't eaten any in so long, that if he ate it, even the slightest crumb, it felt like way too much. He then felt really bad. But if he were going to get over this, he would have to see Sirius again. And there was just no way possible to do that. The past was over, and the future was coming. 'Wait a minute, the past? I could see everyone that's died, and I could tell them exactly what was going on. I could warn them about everything...Voldemort killing my parents, Sirius falling behind the veil—I could be...like...a...psychic...' he thought.  
  
The following morning, Harry went to Dumbledore's office, and he knew that Dumbledore was going on a vacation, but couldn't take Fawkes with him. Harry thought this as a perfect opportunity to leave his own time period. "Professor,"  
  
He said when he got into the office. Dumbledore looked up. "I was just asking if...I could take care of Fawkes while you were out." Dumbledore smiled and said, "Well, I imagine that my beautiful Phoenix could use some taking care of while I'm away. Okay." Dumbledore said happily.  
  
Harry smiled. Harry looked up and Dumbledore had disappeared to Jamaica. Now the only thing that mattered now was to find the right thing in Dumbledore's office. He looked up on the shelf. He saw a row of Time Turners. One labeled hours, another days, another weeks, and then there were months, years, decades, centuries, and so on. He picked up the Decades Time turner and put it in his hand.  
He turned it twice, and immediately felt sick to his stomach. Harry opened his eyes. He found himself in a large bed. It felt somewhat familiar. It was the same exact bed he slept in when he was in the boys' dormitories. He looked around. 'It figures, just one of Old Dumbledore's little trinkets.' He thought as he sat up in bed. He decided that he might as well go into the common room and stare at the flames; lying in bed was getting him nowhere. He walked down the stairs and saw the silhouette of someone already on the hearth rug. The girl turned around, and his first thought was Hermione. But he slipped off the last step and fell to the ground. The girl swung around and said, "James?"  
  
A/N: Isn't that nice. And don't worry, I'll update soon, and you'll see the story. It will turn out with some pretty normal stuff that goes on in the teenage lives of some people. Well, I'm going to write number four now. Buh- bye!! 


	4. Practically Twins

Chapter 4: Practically Twins  
  
"Uhhh...James?" Harry asked.  
"Yeah, that's you. Do you not remember your own name? In case you did your name is James Potter, and I'm Lily Evans. Does any of that ring a bell?" "The names do, of course. What year is this?" Harry asked. "It's 1984. Why?" asked Lily. "Oh, no. Dumbledore is going to kill me. Well, he won't, but he'll want to. And, great, just great. Well, we'll just see how people here can treat me. But, I can't go to class, and if Dumbledore finds out what happened, he'll send me back to the future." Harry said to himself.  
"What are you talking about? You do belong here. You have the right age, and you do have to go to class." Lily paused when she heard someone coming down the stairs. When she saw the Marauders coming down the steps, led by James, followed by Sirius, Remus, and Peter, she took one look at Harry and one look at James. "Come on, Lily, you and your little friends can talk in your own little room, and we can try and sleep, okay? Otherwise, would you just..." He stopped short when he saw Harry sitting on the rug. "Whoa. I think I just saw a mirror image. Sirius, can you tell me what's on the rug?" Sirius opened his eyes. "Psst. James. He looks exactly like you." "You think I hadn't figured that out yet?" James replied loudly. "James, he does look just like you." Lily said coolly. "Except..." "Except what?" James asked impatiently. "The eyes are different. His are green, and yours aren't." Lily commented. "That's all that's different between me and some arrogant brat who is just so jealous of us that he wants to become me?" James asked coldly. "No, James. I don't think he came here on purpose. Well, except for the forehead and eyes, you could pass off as brothers." Lily concluded. "What about the forehead?" James asked. "Well, look, James." Lily said, lifting Harry's bangs and allowing everyone to see his scar. "Lily, that still doesn't explain how he just showed up here by accident." Peter said suddenly. "Well, Peter, maybe he's just a little bit lost." "But he must belong here. If he didn't, then he wouldn't be able to see the school as...well...the school. He'd just see it as some little beat up shack. But he apparently belongs here because he's got the accent, the right vision, and looks just like Prongs. Like a...Prongs Junior." Remus said. "Like I'd want to look like something with such an attitude." Harry muttered under his breath. "What was that?" Sirius said. "Oh, nothing." Harry answered quickly.  
Before getting into bed, James said, "What's your name again?" Harry said the first thing that came to mind. "Ron Weasley." "There is no way on earth you're a Weasley." James said to Harry. "Why not?" Asked Harry. "Weasleys have red hair, that's why." James said before going to sleep. 


	5. A Slight Problem or is it?

Chapter 5: A Slight Problem...Or Is It?  
  
Harry awoke the next morning, only it wasn't exactly morning. It was about 5:30 in the morning, and it was just now getting lighter outside. Nobody was up. Harry could hear someone snoring, and thought, 'How can they sleep at night?' He swung his legs over the bed, and walked down to the common room. He sat on the couch nearest to the fire, and just somewhat stared into the flames.  
It seemed like it had only been about 10 minutes, when everyone finally started getting up. The common room was lit by the sunlight, and the Gryffindor students continued flooding down the stairs. He hadn't noticed until he felt someone else on the couch. "So, 'Ron Weasley,' how'd you sleep?" James asked, sitting next to Harry. "Just fine." He responded almost automatically. "Really? Funny, you sounded like you were talking all night long. More like muttering. Who's Cedric, anyway? And what were you saying about Sirius?" he asked.  
"Answering your questions in order. Cedric is...was a guy at my school. And Sirius isn't just the name belonging to your best friend. I was talking about somebody else, anyway." Harry responded quickly, not daring to look up. He knew if he did, James would tell that he was lying, and then there would have been a problem.  
"You should be getting to class, then." James said, before getting up. "I'm not going, and you can't make me." Harry said coldly. James froze. "You're cutting classes? Do you know how much trouble you'd be in if one of the teachers found out?" James asked. 'Why would he care?' Harry thought. "I dunno, I just don't think I should. Actually, do you really want to go to class?" Harry asked him. "No. I have a test in Transfiguration today, and I know I'm gonna fail, because I haven't been paying any attention to McGonagall at all." James said sadly. "Well, D---James, I think I can help you out there. What month is it again?" Harry asked him. "It's November." James answered. "Okay, well, everyone else says it, and I've taken the exact same test, and I passed. How would you like me to take the test for you?" Harry asked, grinning. James looked at him blankly, and then he nodded. "Great, I'm going to need some of your robes, though."  
Harry followed James up to the dormitory, and James rummaged through his trunk, trying to find a clean set of robes, and then...success! He found them! Harry put them on, and then headed down towards the common room with James. "Ron's going to take the test for me." James explained to his 3 friends. "Wow, James, I wish I had someone who looked just like me," Sirius said to him. "Well, I'll tell you, Sirius, there is no reason for you to be that happy. He's a temporary replacement, and besides, I could hardly sleep last night." James said happily glancing over at 'Ron'.  
James went to breakfast as himself, but Harry went to all of his classes for him. Finally, Transfiguration came up, and Harry looked at the test. He immediately finished the test, and wouldn't look up at McGonagall, because he knew she would figure it out by his eyes.  
  
James was impressed by all of Harry's accomplishments at the end of the day. "Yeah, sure, anytime...almost." Harry said quietly. James smiled and continued to sit on the couch with 'Ron'. Lily entered and said, "So, James, how do you think you did on your test?" Lily said happily. James glanced over at his partner in crime. "I would think I probably passed." He said quickly. "You sure you passed?" She asked, glancing from James to Harry, and then back to James. "Of course, I passed. Who could possibly take my place and finish my test for me?" "Well, possibly the fact that you're not wearing your robes and your new buddy Ron is..." Lily's voice trailed off. "Well—uh...actually..." "'Well, uh actually' nothing! He took your test, didn't he?" Lily asked. James nodded. "I thought so. Oh well, nice use of twin." Lily said calmly.  
  
That night, the Marauders stayed up talking. "I dunno what it is. There's just something strange about that 'Weasley' kid. He claims to be a Weasley, but out of all the Weasleys I know, they have red hair. His is black." James said. Remus, Sirius, and Peter nodded. "Well, we shall know his real name soon, won't we?" James said mischievously, pulling the Marauders' Map from his pocket. "'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.'"  
Everyone stared blankly at the map, surprised by the name on it. "But that's impossible. If his name is Harry, and his last name's Potter, and he looks just like me, then..." James said. "Maybe he's just your cousin." Peter suggested. Everyone looked over at Peter. "What?" he said innocently. "Well, all I know is that kid's got lots of explaining to do." James concluded.  
  
James walked up the stairs to the dormitory, and sat down on Harry's bed. Putting his hand on his shoulder, he shook it, first softly, then violently until he finally saw a sign of life. "Ron, I told you already, it's Saturday, there are no classes. Besides, who said that you are supposed to wake me up?" Harry asked groggily before turning around to see his intruder. As soon as he saw James, Harry's shoulders backed down like he was some sort of wounded animal.  
"Ron, I couldn't sleep. I was wondering. Who are your parents?" James asked. Harry thought for a moment. Then he finally came up with two names. "Hermione and Bill Weasley." He said casually. James looked at him for a minute and then said, "Well, what happened to them?" Harry looked off into the distance, and then said, "They died. When I was a baby. I don't remember them at all." He looked almost upset at James' question.  
  
"I'm sorry I asked. But I just wanted an answer, you know? I mean, I know a few people without parents." James said. Then the thought hit him, 'If I'm this kid's father, and he says they died, then that must mean...oh God, I'm gonna die!! I'm too young for that.' "Where did you come from, anyway?" James asked. Harry thought for a moment. "From a school in...Australia." James looked at him. "When I was a baby, my parents died, so I got brought up by my aunt and her husband, Ginny and Dean Thomas," Harry lied. 'If there had ever been such a big lie like that that had ever come out of my mouth, I'd love to hear it.' Harry thought. "Well, I'm sure you'd like to get back to bed, so uh...g'night." James said quietly.  
James waited until he was absolutely sure that Harry was sleeping, and then made his way downstairs. "He says that he's from Australia, was brought up by his aunt and uncle, Ginny and Dean Thomas, when his parents Bill and Hermione Weasley died when he was a baby." James said when he saw his friends sitting around the fire. "God, he's a good liar." Remus said.  
  
"Yeah, I know. It does all fit. Now, we need the real truth. We need to get him to tell us the truth. Now, who do we know who can get the truth out of anyone?" Sirius said. As if on cue, Lily came walking down the stairs, still practically rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What are you psychos doing up at this hour? Shouldn't you be in bed?" She asked groggily, her head flopping over the chair. All the boys were looking at her, grinning. "What do you want now?" she asked them, as she closed her eyes. "Lily, you are pretty convincing, right?" James asked her. "If that's what you would call it, which you obviously do, then yes." She answered. "Well, we were wondering if you could ask Ha—Ron about his parents and his little family history and...all that good stuff." James asked pleadingly. "Will you go to sleep, then?" Lily asked exasperatedly. "Yes." The four boys chorused. "Fine. I'll try. But if it doesn't work, then don't come crawling to me for more help on your little...scandal." "Gotcha." Said Sirius. The four boys walked up the steps, not being able to wait for the following day when they would get their answers that they wanted.  
  
It struck Lily as odd that James couldn't pry something off someone he was obviously just using to get good marks. 'He probably doesn't even care about the poor guy.' Lily thought. "Well, I better get to bed. I'm going to have to get some good answers tomorrow." She said to herself.  
  
The next morning, the boys were more restless than ever. Well, four of them were at least. Harry refused to get up out of bed, because he was absolutely too tired to go and do anything. "Ron, get up. If you don't get up...then...you'll miss...a wonderful day of school." James said pleadingly. He needed answers. "Come on, get up!!!" Finally, James just got sick of it and left. About 15 minutes later, he came back with a cup of cold water, and dumped it over Harry's head.  
  
Harry jumped out of bed, so fast that you would have thought there was a horrible emergency. "Come on, it's time for another day of my school." James said. Harry once again used James' robes, and walked down toward the Great Hall. He instinctively sat by Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, because he knew nobody else. Three of the Marauders left breakfast early, and walked on toward the Library.  
That left Harry and Lily sitting at one end of the table. Lily turned toward Harry. "So...who are your parents, anyway?" Lily asked. Harry seemed hesitant to answer, but when Lily gave him a sad- looking face, he said without thinking, "You and J-" but he caught himself before saying anything else. Lily looked at him expectantly. "Me...and...?" Harry swallowed hard and said in a low voice, "You and James." Lily looked as though she understood. "So...what's your real name 'Ron Weasley...' Come on, did you actually think that James would miss that?" Lily said. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you everything. But not here. Later. Tonight. Okay? Bye."  
  
A few hours later, James and Lily met up in the hallway. "So?" James asked before he passed her. "He says his parents are...you...and..." she paused. ":::cough:::m-:::cough:::e:::me:::" Lily said difficultly.  
  
Later that night, Harry waited for Lily on the chair by the fire. At last, she showed up. "Okay, I'll spill. My name is Harry Potter. I was born July 31st, and I was raised by Petunia and Vernon Dursley. You and James got murdered when I was a baby, by Voldemort. I hated the way my life was going because you, James, and Sirius were all dead, so I snuck into Dumbledore's office, stole his Time Turner, came here, and that's all I think you really need to know, along with the fact that...God, I REALLY miss my owl. I haven't seen her for a week since before I came here. And I also have a sleeping and eating disorder. But thanks for your time. Goodnight." He concluded before going upstairs and flopping onto his bed.  
James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius snuck off a half-hour later, and went down to the common room, sitting by Lily on the hearth rug. She told them everything. She couldn't believe that her sister and her husband raised her own son to be anorexic and an insomniac. They boys all looked horror-struck. "I can see why he'd want to come back here. I'd want to leave my own time, too, if I had that many problems." James said sadly. After all the truth had been spilled, the 5 students went back up to the dormitories. The Marauders just sat on Peter's bed, speechless. "I wonder why he wouldn't tell us the truth." Remus said all of a sudden.  
"All I know, is I think I'm going to do all my own classes from now on, good marks or not, he needs sleep." James said, as if it were going to be practically hopeless. 


	6. That Didn't HurtBad

A/N: Sorry I had to put you on 2-day-delay, but Angel says I need to make longer chapters, so...yeah. Oh, yeah. And I'll be making another Songfic after this one by I think Daniel Bedingfield. So...enjoy?  
  
Chapter 6: Late Night Conversations and Perfect (Songfic from Simple Plan)  
  
James crawled into his own bed and was lying on his stomach, thinking about his problem. How was he going to explain his bad marks, when Harry had been getting his good marks? This was going to be difficult. He didn't sleep well that night, but when he did, it was only just briefly. He sighed. This wasn't going to get him anywhere. He got up from bed and went down to the common room. He just sat by the fire, staring into the flames, thinking about the fact that he was going to die within 6 years. He wouldn't have noticed anyone's presence if the disturbance wouldn't have said his name.  
"James?" Harry asked as he flopped over on the chair. James jumped at the sound of his name. "Y-yes?" He asked him. "I couldn't sleep. I can't imagine what you're doing down here. This is more of the thing that I do." Harry said sadly. James looked at him suspiciously. "There's nothing I'm really up for. Just...uh...Peter's snoring kept me up." James lied. 'Maybe he gets his lying from me and will actually fall for it.' James thought. "I understand how you feel. It's like that guy could sleep through a herd of rampaging hippogriffs." Harry said. James laughed at this. Harry was right. Peter probably could. "You know, you should really be getting back to sleep." James suddenly blurted out. Harry looked at him blankly. "Why? I haven't got any classes tomorrow. Why should you get to stay up so late?" Harry asked.  
"Because, you look like you could use some sleep." James said truthfully, nodding towards Harry's eyes. Harry sighed and closed his eyes in defeat. "Fine, I'll go. But remember me like this, for thee may not be the same as thee was at the current moment of time." Harry said dramatically. "Goodnight, James...and...goodbye....forever..." He finished, backing away towards the dormitory with the back of his hand still placed stage- like on his forehead. James laughed. His son sure had a good sense of humor. James thought that there was nothing that could be this perfect except for the following day.  
There's nothing that could have messed up the perfect friendship between the Marauders and their newly found partner. Though all Harry did was lounge around in the common room all day while they were in class, the four boys found him extremely helpful. He played the role as lookout when they went out at night to play pranks. He also knew a few more spells than they did due to the fact that he was in a later month when he went back in time.  
  
Anyway, let's cut to the chase. So, the next day, when Harry and James were staying up late again, the two were in an argument about how famous Harry was just because of his stupid scar. "Not like it's anything I want to be famous for!" Harry said defensively. "Oh, sure, you really hate all the popularity, don't you?" James responded.  
  
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do!" "Yeah right! And I'm going to get passing marks in Potions!" "Really? I didn't know that for such an idiot that was possible!" Harry recoiled. "At least I'm not an-an-an orphan!" "That is the last thing I am! I have a family, but they just aren't blood- related!" Harry said, nearly ready to kill his father, before he even got the chance to get together with Lily. "Really? Well, why don't we just test how much your 'family' takes care of you, you self-absorbed, arrogant brat!" "Huh?" Harry began, but before he could continue, he was sent back into the wall with a horrible pain in his chest. His father had just resolved to Muggle fighting. He thought he heard something crack, and his throat hurt badly, too. But he still managed to say, "I think I'm gonna go to bed now," before practically falling down the stairs when he ran into the wall, still clenching his chest.  
  
Hey, Dad, look at me, think back and talk to me, did I grow up according to plan? And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do, but it hurts when you disapprove all alone? And now I try hard to make it, I just wanna make you proud. I'm never gonna be good enough for you can't stand another fight. And you can't change me.  
  
Harry had wanted so much to meet his father, but now, he just felt disgusted with himself, and now wanted nothing more than to go back to Ron and Hermione and Hedwig, along with the rest of his friends at school. He had once snuck downstairs at the Dursleys' house to see what Dudley was watching, and it was a movie about a suicidal girl who had problems, because her parents were drug addicts, and he thought about how she made her parents stop their drugs and care more about her. She had smashed her mother's crystal ashtray, and used it to peel off part of her arm, and made it seem as if she was hiding something, and then they forced it out of her, and then they stopped their drugs to help their daughter.  
Looking over at his bedside table, Harry saw a glass sitting there. He picked it up, and closing his eyes in pain because of his chest, smashed it against the table, shattering the glass across the floor. He picked up a large shard of glass, examining it carefully. Harry ran the edge of the glass along his finger. He noted how clean it was. 'This isn't as easy as I thought it would,' Harry thought. He sighed. He wished he was back in his home-time.  
  
He missed Hermione, Hedwig, Ron, Ginny, Seamus, Neville...everyone at Hogwarts. Strangely enough, he even missed Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy. 'What in the world am I thinking?' He thought. Why he even had to go through his life, he'd never know.  
  
Cause we lost it all, nothing lasts forever, I'm sorry I can't be perfect. Now it's just too late, and we can't go back, I'm sorry I can't be perfect. I try not to think about all the pain I feel inside, did you know you used to be my hero? All the days you spent with me, now seem so far away, and it feels like you don't care anymore. And now I try hard to make it I just wanna make you proud. I'm never gonna be good enough for you can't tell that I'm alright. And nothing's alright.  
  
Harry made up his mind. He took the blade and ran it quick and hard along his arm. He saw the blood and smiled; finally his father would be nicer to him. He turned the blade on his side, as if peeling an orange, only his arm. A long piece of skin came off, and it looked disgusting, and he could have vomited. When the hot blood was cooled by the night's air, Harry turned over on his side. The thought of regaining his father's happiness made him fall asleep faster.  
  
The next morning, Harry opened his eyes. He saw that nobody was sleeping and they were probably down in the common room. He decided to stay in bed. His plan: stay in bed, they'll worry, come back, help with the horrible scratch, and feel sorry for him again. So, he stayed. He was not going to come out of bed at all. He would starve to death before he let the others force him out of bed. Harry lifted up the blanket to look at his arm. The blood had stained the sheets and blankets, along with his pillow. The scratch was turning deeply infected.  
Several hours later, at about...8:30, the boys came back. Harry pretended to be asleep, but when James wasn't looking opened one eye, and looked up at him. But, some familiar urge came over him. There was an odd feeling in his throat. He was going to have a...dun, dun, dun...cough attack! He recovered himself with his blankets slowly, and then let out the cough attack. "James, shouldn't we like, you know, wake him up or something?" Remus asked. James rolled his eyes. "Fine, Moony, go ahead. Wake him up. I don't care." He responded tonelessly. "Geez Prongs, what happened? Just yesterday morning, you two were like best friends. Now you don't even care about him?" Peter asked him. "Nothing happened. It's just, you know, it's his fault. He'll wake himself up when he's coughing, so don't worry about it, okay, Wormtail?" James said sharply.  
"Fine, I'll do it myself." Remus said. "Harry? Wake up, will you? You're going to keep us all awake. We need to sleep. You don't. We do." No response came, but Harry stopped coughing, sighed, and turned over on his side, thinking that if he slept on his stomach, it would probably hurt his chest. The lights were getting turned out, and just as Remus climbed into bed, he could have sworn he heard Harry mutter, "Night, Remus." He smiled at this and fell asleep easier. For James, it was something completely different. He couldn't sleep at all. After Remus, Peter, and Sirius, Harry had fallen asleep, and was muttering strange things about how much everyone at this school hated him, and that he only wanted to die now than stay doing what he was doing now.  
All of a sudden, the muttering stopped. He heard some moving around slowly in a bed, and then he heard something very strange. He'd never heard this strange, sobbing sound coming from Harry's bed. That was the last thing he'd expected from his own son.  
  
'Cause we lost it all, nothing lasts forever, I'm sorry I can't be perfect. Now it's just too late, and we can't go back, I'm sorry I can't be perfect.  
  
Slowly getting out of his bed, James quietly walked towards Harry's bed. He pulled the curtain back slightly. First, he sat down on the bed, and then he took the blanket down from Harry's head. His eyes were red, from what he could see, and his face was pale. James slowly picked Harry head up from the bed, and propped it up on several pillows. Harry wouldn't look up at James. He was too upset. There was nothing that Harry would have wanted more now than to leave or die right then and there.  
"Fine, do you not want to talk to me?" James said suddenly. Harry nodded. "Fine. I'll go." James said in defeat. Harry said in a hoarse voice, "You'd never understand anyway," and then slid down the pile of pillows.  
  
Nothing's gonna change the things that you said, and nothing's gonna make this right again. Please don't turn your back, I can't believe it's hard just to talk to you, but you don't understand. Cause we lost it all, nothing lasts forever, I'm sorry I can't be perfect. Now it's just too late, and we can't go back, I'm sorry I can't be perfect.  
  
The next day, James approached Lily at lunch. "Lily you know how you said you can get information out on anyone?" Lily nodded. "Well, I sort of need to ask you to get some information out of our dear, future-friend here. You see, he won't talk to any of us, and he was really upset last night. I mean, I don't think I've see anyone's eyes so-so-red. He looked really unhappy, and, uh...I'm not sure why. He probably just misses his friends, but the way he acts, it's as if he's more upset that one of them's gone in his time, and, well, quite frankly, I feel bad for him. I think you would, too if you saw him last night. But as long as other people don't find out about this, well, besides my wonderful roommates, then, his secret's safe with me, and...you too, right?" James asked desperately. Lily smiled and nodded. 


	7. Little Secrets

Chapter 7: Little Secrets  
  
That night, before the Marauders had finished their plans of another prank, Lily snuck into the boys' dormitory, and located Harry's bed immediately. He appeared to be sleeping, and she watched him for a while, but then remembered that she was supposed to be working, not daydreaming. She shook him awake, and it took her a while. "What do you want? Do you know what time it is? What are you thinking waking me up this late?" Harry blurted out. "I was sort of wondering why I hadn't seen you around lately, so I thought that I would come up and see what was wrong with you. You miss your friends, don't you?" Lily asked. Harry nodded, looking off in the distance.  
  
"I'm sort of thinking of going back, just for a little while, though. I still have a few things to do before I leave." Harry said sadly. "Why don't you go now, and come back in about...a week?" "Well, I'm not exactly sure. I mean, you know, really don't know if I'm physically ready enough to go back to Ron and Hermione...Hermione, especially. She's been worried sick about me, because I'm too thin, or I look too tired. But, someway, she seems to be able to make everything better. She's my best female friend, besides Ginny. But I met Hermione first, so that makes her more special. Well, of course, out of three, I met Ron before Hermione, but-" Harry was cut off by a horrible pain that made him clench his chest with his hand. "My God! What happened to your lungs?" Lily asked. "Nothing, I just...ran into something." Harry lied. But in all truth, he did run into something—James's fist. "Really? Would you mind showing the 'Nothing'?" Lily asked. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, I would. Now, don't you have anything better to do than come and asking me questions?"  
  
Harry asked Lily irritably. "As soon as you show me, you'll be free." Lily said sharply. "NEVER!!" Harry said loudly, as he attempted to jump off the bed, but the pain caught in his chest made him fall hard on the ground upside-down, and revealed the black-and-blue bruise. It was huge! "There's no way you got that from running into something. And if I have to, I'll give you Veritaserum, and you won't be able to lie to me. You're just as good of a liar as James, and—" Lily paused, seeing the expression on Harry's face. "James? James did this to you, didn't he?" Harry softly nodded.  
"That's it, young man! You are going back to the future, and you will take care of your problems, come back, and make amends with James, and I'll go talk to the fool!" Lily said, storming off. Harry got the Time Turner out from under his pillow. He turned it twice, just like he had before, and before he knew it, was back in his own time. Except, he wasn't in Dumbledore's office. He was in the hospital wing. He looked to his right to see Hermione sleeping in the chair, and Ron on his left. He smiled.  
He saw his wand sitting on the nightstand, and his arm hurt too much to reach out himself, and got his wand off the table, and began poking Hermione's arm with it. At last, she woke up. "Harry!! You're awake!! You've been out for forever! What happened to you, anyway?" She stopped when she noticed the look on his face was just as blank and pale as she had seen it twice before. She sighed.  
"Are you having any trouble...breathing, or moving your arm?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head violently, and Hermione said, "Okay. You looked like you were having trouble moving your arm there for a second. Oh well, now that you're awake, we should go to the nurse and have her check you. You don't look like you've been doing very well, and I know for a fact you haven't." Hermione said, walking away.  
Ron woke up and sat up straight in his chair. "Hey, Harry. Once again, you have begun to break your record of being in the hospital wing since the reign of You-Know-Who." Ron joked. There's nothing that Harry was going to speak truthfully about either of his friends in such an open place. "So...how have you been lately?" Harry said, trying to make conversation. "Oh, fine. There's really not much going on, except for the fact that you've been out for about 2 weeks after they found you passed out in Dumbledore's office." Ron said casually. Harry looked over at Ron in disbelief.  
"I've been out for two weeks???" He said, as if it were the end of the world. Ron nodded. "Well, wait a minute," Harry said, trying to calculate all of the problems. "Ron, I think I'm going to need to sleep now, and, uh...you should go to class..." He trailed off, and Ron said, "Okay, but, I'll see you later, okay mate?" Ron said, grinning. Harry nodded, and turned over. "If I was out for two weeks, then that means...that could have just been a dream, or..." Harry said to himself. He thought for a minute, and pulled down the sleeve from his shirt and saw a thick, dark red line running the length from his wrist to the inside of his elbow. "OH MY GOD!! I've been knocked out for 2 weeks after I was in the past. That means...I'm a week overdue." He said to himself.  
  
Hermione came back to the hospital wing a few hours later, only to find her friend sleeping calmly on his bed. The nurse came in, and immediately stopped what she was about to say rather loudly, and instead said it quietly. "Miss Granger, I'm afraid your little...friend has 2 very bad injuries. There is one on his arm, and one on his chest. The arm problem is about 7 inches long, and there is a lot of blood missing. We took care of the blood problem, but there is still the pain. His chest has 2 broken ribs, and his sternum is damaged, as though hit on something, apparently from a Muggle fight." Madam Pompfrey snorted in disgust.  
The thought of Muggles made her want to vomit. Hermione asked what she should do, and Madam Pompfrey said, "Simply rub this" she indicated a bottle of blue fluid, "On the infected areas. The pain will clear, and the places will be completely healed in 4 days' time." Hermione felt okay with the arm, but it was the other part she was worried about. Hermione took the bottle and uneasily, she said, "Well, you might as well go somewhere else to do this. Harry? Harry? Wake up, you prat. Hurry up, will you?" She said, shaking him.  
  
"Hmm? What? What is it, Hermione, I want to sleep..." Harry said groggily. "We need to go up to the dormitory so that I can help you feel better, so get up, you git." Hermione said, annoyed. "Oh...fine. But I don't see anything that needs to be taken care of..." Harry said, sitting up in his bed.  
  
"OOOHHH, I think there is..." Hermione protested. "Look, Hermione, I can walk just fine, and—" Harry spoke too soon, for when he tried walking, he nearly collapsed sideways. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You CAN'T walk just fine, so I'm going to have to help you all the way up to the dormitory, and you're going to be so difficult, I can tell." Hermione said, staring at his thin figure. She sighed. "Well, give me your arm and we'll go upstairs." Hermione said. "OUCH!! Wrong arm!! You can only hold the other one." Harry said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. Hermione continued to drag Harry upstairs, and when she finally reached the boys' dormitory, she collapsed on Harry's bed.  
  
"First of all, you need to sleep. When you wake up, you should feel all better." Hermione said happily. "Okay, goodnight, Hermione." Harry said, turning over on his right side, trying to avoid the pain, and suppressed a groan of pain when he turned over on his ribs. Surprisingly, he slept well. After a while, the pain in his arm subsided, and he was sleeping just fine until he realized that something was moving him. He wasn't having any out-of-the-ordinary bad dreams, so he couldn't imagine why someone would want to wake him up. He opened his eyes a little bit. He realized it was only his chest moving, but couldn't think why. He opened his eyes more, and then saw that it was Hermione who was the disturbance. "Mione, what in the world are you doing?" Harry said, meekly.  
"I'm sorry I woke you up. It's this bruise on your chest. I'm afraid that it won't seem to go away. What in the world happened here?" Hermione asked anxiously. Harry couldn't tell her that his father had done this. It would only upset her, and she wouldn't allow him to go back to the past. "I ran into a...door." Harry said, avoiding eye contact with Hermione. "Oh, bull. I can tell that that was NOT caused by you running into a door." Hermione said, her arms crossed against her chest. "Nothing, I swear. Now, continue, or else that bruise will never go away." Hermione glared at him, and then put more of the blue liquid over the bruise rubbing it again. Harry winced in pain at her touch, but suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be Mr. Strong, so he just allowed her to continue. "You know, Hermione, there's not that many people I would allow to do this. You are a very privileged person, you know that, right?" Harry asked suddenly. "Of course I do. Besides, out of hundreds of students, you chose Ron and me to be your friends. Just that has to be a privilege. But...who would you let do this, anyway?" Hermione asked him.  
  
"You, because...for one, you're my best female friend, and two, because it looks like it's too late; Ginny, because she's my second best female friend. Mrs. Weasley because she's my second mum, and Madam Pompfrey, because...well...what part of me hasn't she gotten, anyway?" Harry shrugged, his hands behind his head. Hermione laughed at this.  
Hermione finished her job. Harry wasn't too happy about that. "Well Harry, that's it. You're finished." Hermione concluded. Harry groaned. "Oooh, Hermione, my chest feels like it's on fire. It's like...someone just snapped my ribs in half." Hermione looked at him sadly. Although she didn't know that Harry was doing this for more attention, she just shrugged, and continued with her job.  
Harry was roaring with laughter inside his mind, but was good enough at acting to stay looking pained on the outside. Hermione was soon done with kneading Harry's skin, which started to turn red, and just settled for smoothing the potion out on his chest. Harry sighed happily with satisfaction. Just as Hermione turned to leave, she saw something under Harry's bed, which was the Time Turner. Harry hadn't remembered putting it there, but he obviously had. "Harry...is that what I think it is?" Hermione said, suspiciously. Harry shook his head violently. "NO!! Well, actually, what do you think it is?"  
  
"I think that's a Time Turner."  
  
"No it's not."  
  
"Is to." "Listen, if I say it isn't, then it's not." Harry justified.  
  
"Then why don't you show me?" Hermione said, her eyebrows raised. "Well...uh...okay..." Harry said, slowly pulling the chain. He tore the chain off of the Time Turner, and wrapped it around his wand. "See? Just my...wand." Harry said nervously. "Oh, uh-huh...sure..." Hermione said, eyeing Harry's pillow. Before Harry could think, Hermione had the Time Turner in her hand, and then said, "What on Earth have you been using this for??" Hermione asked him. "Nothing, I was just..." Harry began. Hermione read the label on it. "DECADES? Where in the name of Merlin have you been going? Let's think here, Hermione...uh...10 years, 6 years old, ummm...20...not born yet, and parents were in school..." Hermione looked at him in disbelief. "Oh my god. This is where you've been, isn't it?" Hermione said, looking into Harry's deep green eyes. Harry nodded, and looked away from Hermione.  
"Who did this to you?" She asked, pointing at Harry's chest. Harry's heart broke at this question.  
  
"It was—D-D-Dad." Hermione gasped.  
  
"Harry, will you please look at me right now, and tell me why you've been lying to me?" Harry refused. The tears that were now streaming down his face made him feel even worse than he had before.  
Not one to give up hope---on much, Hermione put her hand under his chin and lifted up his head. Her angry face softened, and she rested her head on his shoulder, and Harry followed suit. "It's not that bad," she said softly. Harry lifted his head from Hermione's shoulder and said, "I guess the reason I make such a bad shoulder to cry on is because that's what I needed." Hermione laughed. Harry avoided eye contact with Hermione, and was looking off into the distance. The door was open, and the light from the fire in the common room was somewhat reflecting on the stone. "Now, because of your small attention-span, you have now been promoted from one to two questions asked. So, like I said before, why did you lie to me?" Hermione said suddenly. Harry hesitated. He still avoided eye contact, and sighed. "I just...didn't want you to, you know, worry about me." Harry said quietly. "I'm always going to worry about you, and you should know that by now, and you've never lied to me before. What makes this any different?" Hermione asked. "I guess that I pretty much figured you wouldn't let me go back if I told you where—when I'd been." "Oh, please. If I never let you do things just because I worried about the consequences, you would still be stuck in the sidelines of a Quidditch game," said Hermione. Harry smiled, and then his smile faded. "What were you doing there, anyway?" Hermione asked.  
"I was kind of...wanting to actually get to talk to my parents for one of the few times I've been able to, and even when I could before, most of the times I probably didn't even know what I was saying. And with Sirius...a few more conversations with him were okay, too. As selfish as it seems, I was actually happy then," Harry finished sadly, before more tears pooled in his eyes. "Hey, it's not as selfish as you think." Hermione said softly to him. "Now, I think you've had a long day, and you need to go to sleep." Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone. "But Hermione, I'm not tired yet." Harry said. Hermione frowned. "You never seem tired, although I know for a fact you are, you're just hiding it. Now, GET TO BED!!" Hermione said as if she were his parent. "No." Harry said simply.  
  
Hermione jokingly glared at him. As funny as the silence was, she was anxious to get to bed herself. In a split-second, Hermione lunged at Harry, and turned him over so that he was lying on his stomach. "Go to bed!!" She said again.  
  
"No!" Harry said. "Yes!" "No!!"  
"Yes!!!!"  
Before Harry could answer 'no' again, his back was met with something soft, which he realized was Hermione's hand smoothing his back. Harry sighed. He turned his head so that he could see Ron's bed. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Harry could have sworn he heard Hermione say, "Finally."  
  
On her way back to the Common Room, Hermione met up with Ron.  
"Be quiet when you go up there. Tell Dean, Seamus, and Neville the same thing. It was too hard to get him to go to sleep once, and I'm not going to waste one more minute doing it again." Hermione said. Ron looked puzzled. "Harry, you nitwit!" Hermione exclaimed. Ron mouthed an 'Oh' and walked quietly up the stairs.  
  
When Ron reached the dormitory, he walked over to Harry's bed and quietly kneeled next to him. "Oh, you're lucky. So rich, powerful, well-known, ugh...why couldn't it be me?" Ron asked quietly before walking over to his own bed. Ron found what he was looking for, his quill, and walked back out the door, forgetting to be quiet, and slammed the door. As soon as he reached the bottom stair, Hermione came right up in his face. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? DON'T YOU KNOW HE HASN'T SLEPT FOR A LONG TIME NOW???" Hermione yelled. Ron moaned. "Why me?" he asked himself. "You're going to regret ever slamming that door. You get to sleep in the common room tonight. It's going to take me way too long to get him to go back to sleep again." Hermione said venomously before stomping up the stairs.  
Opening the door, Hermione walked over to see Harry sitting up in his bed. Hermione sighed and sat down on the bed. "How come you're still up?" Hermione asked. She smiled at Harry so that she didn't seem as upset as she did with Ron. "I heard something slam. It just—woke me up. I was asleep for a few minutes, though." Harry said simply.  
"So...what do you want to do, then?" Hermione asked him.  
"First of all, who slammed the door?" Harry asked her. "Oh, it was Ron. He gets to sleep in the common room tonight, because I'm being forced to stay up until you go back to sleep." Harry's put on a façade of mock hurt. "What's wrong?" Hermione asked. "You don't like staying up with me?" Harry said in a high-pitched voice. Hermione looked stunned. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's not that, it's just--- well, uh, I don't know, it's not exactly what I'm paid to do, and- what's so funny?" Harry had burst out in laughter at Hermione's miniscule excuse. "I was just joking, 'Mione. But I will pay you to put me to sleep every night." Harry said when his laughter subsided. "Trust me, I have plenty of fun staying up and talking to people, at least when it's not Parvati and Lavender, who do nothing but talk about Ron, Malfoy, Dean, Seamus and you." Hermione said.  
"Hermione, I'm sorry I lied to you." Harry said apologetically. "That's okay. I understand, so don't worry about it." Hermione said happily. "I have to go back. I promised my mother I would." Harry said sadly. "I understand that, too. How long do you think you'll be there?" Hermione asked. "Probably only a week. But if anyone asks, I left to...go and find Hedwig." Harry added. "I can say that." Said Hermione. "I'll miss you, though." Said Harry.  
"I'll see you next week, then. Goodbye." Harry said picking up the Time Turner from the bedside table. "WAIT!" Hermione said before he could turn it. "Let me come with you. Please?" Hermione asked. Seeing the pleading look in Hermione's eyes, Harry nodded. Hermione smiled.  
  
"Come on, or we'll be late." Harry joked.  
  
Meanwhile (sort of) in the past, James is still trying to figure this whole thing out. "How are we so sure that he is my son? What if he's just a liar who uses manipulative ways and Transfiguration to get what he wants?" James asked Sirius and Remus one night. "He can't be my brother, because I saw my birth in a Pensieve, there was only me, and the memory continued from being born to the minute I got home." James said. "Maybe he's like...a stepbrother, or...a cousin or an uncle, or...yep, that's about all the things I could come up with." Remus said. "There's no way to be able to analyze it logically, James." Sirius added. "And now he's gonna come back, too. I can't believe Lily. Telling him he needs to come back. It's not like I'm gonna say I'm sorry or anything." James concluded.  
  
Harry opened his eyes. He was lying on his bed. Hermione was next to him, and she was sleeping. "Hermione? Hermione?" Harry whispered, gently shaking her shoulder.  
  
"Hmm?" she asked. "Get up; we've got a lot to do today." "What makes it different from any other day? We have the same classes, don't we?" Hermione said groggily. "No, today we have to go talk to my parents."  
  
"OH!! RIGHT!! Sorry!" Hermione said, sitting up in her bed.  
  
"Come on, get up, and be quiet, I think everyone's already asleep." Harry whispered. He could hear Peter's snoring. He froze in mid-step when he heard someone talking in the common room. He recognized the voice as his father's, and looked carefully around the corner of the wall. His body was shaking with nervousness, and he lowered himself below the balcony and looked through the stone 'bars'. He saw James, Remus and Sirius on the hearth rug, and they were all talking.  
"I'll bet that if he is my son, that in his little future time, he always sucks in the fame like there's no tomorrow." James said. Remus and Sirius laughed. Harry was stunned. Fortunately, he was wearing dark clothes, because Lily came out of the Girls' Dormitory, and stood at the top of the stairs, and said, "I told you to shut up about him, he's supposed to be here soon, and if you say one thing like that to or about him, I will have your head, and there will be no 'him'!" She said before she noticed that the fire was reflecting in Harry's glasses. She smiled. Opening and closing a door, she made it sound as if she had gone back to bed, and then knelt down on all fours and crawled towards Harry and Hermione.  
"Let's go upstairs." Lily suggested. Harry and Hermione nodded.  
  
Sitting on Harry's bed, Lily said, "I talked to James. He says that he wasn't thinking when he did that, and that he was sorry...sort of. But he still says you're a-" "...Self-absorbed, arrogant brat." Harry finished for her. Lily nodded. Hermione only listened. "I'm sorry I didn't come earlier, but I didn't really have much of a choice." Harry said. "Well, that's taken care of, now, so aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, here?" Lily asked. "Oh, right! Uh...Mum, this is Hermione Granger, and she wanted to come, so I let her." Harry said. "Oh, like Helen of Troy's daughter?" Lily asked. Hermione smiled and nodded. "Well, she's just as beautiful as you described her. She's got the really nice eyes, the hair to match, and the great smile." Lily said. Harry felt the blood rush to his face, more from humiliation than anything. "Oh, Harry, you really said those nice things about me?" Hermione said. "Well—uh—I—I-" Harry stammered. "Sure, he talks about you all the time. He says even more stuff than that, but he's pretty complimentary. He says you're just as pretty as his owl. He says so much sweet stuff like that, and I'm pretty sure he means every last word, but he's a damn good liar, and you know, you could probably ask him if he means any of it." Lily said, looking over at Harry. Harry nodded vigorously.  
'Why can't I just die now?' Harry thought. "Well, I can say a lot of things that are nice like that about him, you could probably ask Ginny. She says a lot of things, too." Harry was blushing furiously, and felt as though he were going to have a heat stroke when Hermione kissed him. When she was finished, Harry gasped for air, and said, "You should think about doing that in a week when I feel better, or when I finish and win a Quidditch Match." Still breathing heavily, Harry said, "Well, I guess saying nice things really does benefit the people that say them."  
"It's time to go talk to James, now, Harry." Lily said. "I don't wanna go!! He'll hurt me again, and then he'll insult me and make me sad!" Harry said. All three of them were stunned at what Harry had said. 'Where on earth did that come from?' Harry thought. "Oh, come on, if you can fight Voldemort, then you can face your own father." Hermione said. "No! This is different! It's completely different!" Harry said. 'Come on, you're not afraid of him, you weakling. Come on, say I'm not afraid of my father! Say it! Say it!' He thought. "How is it different?" Lily asked. "I'm too worried about people hating me for getting their lives taken over by Voldemort and screwing up in the war, but nobody will hate me for losing to my own father!" Harry exclaimed. "Do you know how I feel right before I go face Voldemort?"  
  
"Nervous?" Hermione suggested. "No, Hermione, when I go to face him, I'm scared half to death. Don't you get it? I can't be brave on the inside Hermione, I didn't mean to survive, but I did. I have to make everyone think that I'm brave so that they don't lose faith in their lives." Harry said, and he looked like he was on the verge of tears. "I'm not as brave as everyone thinks, and ever since last year, I've been just about as confident."  
'This girl looks like she's dealt with this before, I should go.' Lily thought. "Uh...I think I should go back to bed now, goodnight." Lily said quietly before walking out of the dormitory.  
Hermione looked over at her friend. Her heart broke at the sight of her friend crying again. She awkwardly put her arm on his shoulder, pulling him to her side. "You don't have to be afraid of him, you know." Hermione said calmly. Harry nodded; "Yes, I do." Hermione shook her head. "He's only your dad, and you should feel comfortable around him. I mean honestly, are you afraid of the Dursleys?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head. "Then why should you be afraid of him?" Harry pondered on this for a moment. The awkward silence was broken when they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. To avoid any problems, Harry and Hermione rolled off of the bed, and hid there until the Marauders were asleep. They sighed. "Why don't we go down to the common room and talk about this?" Harry suggested. Hermione nodded.  
  
Down in the common room, Hermione and Harry sat on the couch and were still in silence before Hermione said, "So, you never answered my question." Harry hesitated. "I guess............because the Dursleys will get in trouble if they hurt me, and...Dad's different. He won't get in trouble for it." Harry answered, staring into the now dying flames of the fire. "Well, if you told somebody else about it, then-" Hermione began. "If I told somebody else, then they would know exactly where and when I'd been, and then I'd get in trouble, along with people thinking that I was a wimp and couldn't carry around my problems." Harry said, irritated. "I know. I don't know what I was thinking. Honestly, it was only a punch, I mean; the bruise is gone, isn't it?" Hermione asked. Harry avoided eye contact. "I...er...haven't looked per se, and...you know...it was somewhat of a large bruise, and..." Harry said, carefully choosing his words. "That bruise is still there, isn't it?" Hermione asked in disbelief. Harry nodded. "But I could have sworn—Madam Pompfrey gave it to me herself—she said that Snape had a student make one in class—and that it was completely a perfect potion, but...I don't understand." "Hermione? Do you even know which student made it?" Harry asked. Hermione shook her head. "Well, there's your answer then. See, what if it was Malfoy...or someone else?" Hermione shrugged.  
"Anyway, forget about it, Hermione. That was the only thing, and it was the only injury on me." Harry concluded. "Actually...I've kind of been wondering...what was that impossibly large, thick line on your arm?" Hermione wondered. Harry looked around nervously. "Uh...it-it-it was just a scratch. I got it when I was...er...running down a corridor, and I fell on a quill. It got stuck in my arm, and I just pulled it up, and-" Harry could tell his story wasn't good enough, because Hermione was not buying anything that he said. "Well, okay. I was looking through my bag when I got stuck with the quill, okay? Is that good enough for you, now?" Harry asked. Hermione once again shook her head.  
"Listen, Hermione, I promise you, that is what happened, okay? Just go to sleep, now. You can sleep out here. Trust me; I've pretty much spent a lot of time sleeping in the chair. It can be pretty comfortable when it wants to. I'm going to go up to the dormitory and sleep. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" Harry asked. Hermione gave a fake smile and nodded, but her insides were screaming, 'LIAR, LIAR, LIAR!!'.  
Harry walked up the stairs to the dormitory, and got into his own bed. His head fell against his pillow, and he was asleep before he knew it.  
  
The next morning, he heard several people talking, but weren't sure who they were. He finally recognized Hermione's voice, then James', then Sirius', Remus' and Peter's voices. 'God, she's brave. I won't even talk to that jerk.' Then he finally realized something else...they were talking about something special. A certain topic that nobody, even in the future, ever dropped—him. 'WHY ME??' Harry's brain screamed. "He's normally really brave, and nice, and he's really a great guy and all, but...normally he's up by now, too." Hermione said. 'NOO! Why must she say such nice things? WHY?' Harry's thoughts said desperately. 'Wait a minute, what time is it?' Harry thought. "I mean, honestly. 11:00 in the morning, and still sleeping. He's worse than Ron." Hermione said in her disapproving tone.  
'I never sleep this late,' Harry thought. 'Something must be absolutely wrong with me. Either that or...maybe I was just really, really tired. Well, time to act upset in my sleep. The only people who will think anything of it would be Dad...evil Dad...why must I have shown Hermione? Why?' Harry let out a soft whimper, and started breathing hard. 'This is going to work so-o-o-o well.' Harry thought. 'I'm such a good actor, too.' Harry could feel the sweat dripping from his forehead already. 'Ha, ha, ha. It's going to be such a good wake-up call when I don't have to act as if I've been sleeping just fine.'  
Harry felt a cold hand on his forehead, and stopped letting out the fake cries, but continued to breathe hard. His breathing subsided and he felt his shoulders being shook softly. "Hmmmm?" he said weakly, opening his eyes. His vision was blurred, and he saw five people sitting in front of them, but couldn't distinguish any of them except for Hermione. "Glasses..." he whispered. He felt them being slipped on, and could now tell them all apart.  
From left were James, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and Hermione. Avoiding eye contact with James, Harry groaned in annoyance and turned over on his stomach. When Harry heard the other boys leave, abandoning Hermione, he turned back over and propped his back up on several pillows. He saw Hermione's face, and looked half-surprised. "Your scar felt fine, you little faker." Hermione said simply. Harry grinned; ah, the sweet satisfactory of annoying people. "Well, I had to get some way of getting rid of...him." Harry said, closing his eyes in happiness, and shrugging. "Yes, but I still think you're both being absolutely childish about the whole thing. I mean, you're practically both grown up, and you should learn to face your problems, instead of chickening out of them." Hermione answered. "Hermione? Do you see any grownups around here? NEWSFLASH! I am a kid!" Harry said loudly. *Yes, I did get part of that line from Uptown Girls.*  
"No, you're supposed to be 16, and yet you act like you're 8! Listen, I don't care if you are a kid, you should be, and are smart enough to get over this problem and be friends with your father!" Hermione said. Harry glared at Hermione. "I don't need you to tell me that, or tell me anything else, for that matter. I can take care of myself. You seem like you're best friends with him, so why don't you keep him, congratulations; he's yours! And by the way, you can stay here, because I'm leaving!" Harry said, now completely fuming in anger. He stood up, and picked the Time Turner up off of the table. "I hope you have fun. I know I will without the Hermione Problem still lurking around the school." Harry said, turning to face her. "No! You can't leave me here! Now you're just running away from two people- problems, and that isn't getting you anywhere, is it?" said Hermione, grabbing Harry's wrist from the Time Turner. Harry's eyes were burning with anger, and Hermione shuddered at the site. "Hermione, I am absolutely sick of this. If you really want to know why I'm not really too happy about the idea of making up with him, then think about who his secret-keeper was, and why you ever bothered to talk to me in the first place---beside Neville's toad." Harry said, staring straight into Hermione's eyes. Hermione thought about this for a moment. "His secret- keeper was Peter Pettigrew. If you become friends with your father, he'll listen to you, and switch secret-keepers. You won't be the Boy-Who-Lived, and I wouldn't have even spared a passing glance." Hermione said quietly.  
  
"Exactly." Harry said. At that, he turned the Time Turner, and was leaving Hermione in the past. Alone. Harry was immediately sent back into his pile of pillows on his bed. He sighed. 'I can't just forgive her like that. Stupid Hermione. Stupid Hermione for defending Dad. Stupid Hermione for defending Stupid Dad for insulting me. Hmmmm......Dumb Dad...' Harry laughed at this.  
  
Ron came in a few hours later, and Harry looked really tired. "Harry, how come you're still up?" Ron asked. "I'm just... not that tired." Harry explained. Ron looked completely unsatisfied. "Oh, what do you care, anyway?" Harry asked. "What do you know, anyway?" Harry muttered under his breath. Ron pretended that he hadn't heard that. "Have you seen Hermione today? She seems to be missing. I don't think anybody's seen her all day. Have you?" Ron asked. "No." Harry answered, possibly, a little too fast. "Really? Hmmmm..." Ron said. Harry yawned. "Time for bed, Ron. Goodnight," Was all he said before drifting off to sleep.  
  
A/N: So, are you people liking so far? I'm really sorry it's taking so long to update this story, but I keep forgetting to post new chapters. Well, this is the longest chapter I've written so far. It's a whole 5,799 words, not including the author's note. Well, it's time to get started on the next chapter. And, I forgot at the beginning. I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS WHATSOEVER, AND DID NOT MAKE ANY UP, EITHER!! IT'S ALL J.K. ROWLING'S! HER BEAUTIFUL WORK!! NOT MINE!! I JUST WRITE STORIES THAT WILL NEVER BE, BUT STILL, I LIKE WRITING THEM. GOODBYE. READ AND REVIEW...please? 


	8. If You're Not The One

Chapter 8: If You're Not The One (SF)  
  
The next day, Harry was given a rude awakening by Ron, and was still barely awake when he tried standing up, but then fell to the floor, his head hovering inches above his trunk. Pushing up on the floor, Harry got to his feet, and said, "Well, that was enough adventure for today." Ron laughed.  
  
Down in the common room, it seemed empty. The tables were cleared, and the room was quiet. Harry felt a pang of guilt stab at his heart for leaving Hermione in the past. He sighed. 'Might as well get used to going to class today,' Harry thought. He walked alongside Ron towards the Great Hall. As they took their seats, Ron stayed in-conversation, while Harry simply had his thoughts covering his mind, and soon wasn't even paying attention to the emptying room. "Harry! Wake up! It's time for Charms!" Ron said loudly.  
Harry quickly snapped out of it, and stood up quickly. "Err...sorry, Ron. I was just thinking..." Harry said truthfully. Walking towards the Charms Corridor, Harry hadn't seemed to be paying attention to the wall until he collided with it. Uncontrollably laughing, Ron caught him before he hit the floor, but nearly dropped him, because he was laughing so hard he felt as if he had osteoporosis. Fortunately, Harry brought his hands behind his head, and saved himself from the fall. "Nice to know I can always trust you." Harry said sarcastically. Ron's laughing subsided sometime about halfway through Charms, and couldn't hold his wand straight.  
  
"Ron, will you please come off it? It happened about a half-hour ago, it's not as funny anymore." Harry said slowly. Nodding, Ron clamped his mouth shut and tried to keep it that way, but every time he tried to say the right charm, he's burst out laughing. Finally, Harry put a Silencing Charm on him, and continued with his work.  
  
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Later that night, Harry couldn't sleep. Whereas Ron was snoring loudly, and that was not the cause of the problem, sleeping still seemed impossible. He was thinking of nothing but Hermione and how she must feel...in the past. 'Good job, self. You've just accomplished one of the stupidest things you've ever done. Wow, you are stupider than you thought.' Harry thought. Turning over on his stomach, Harry faced Ron's bed, and strangely, silently cried. 'Nice, now you're even starting to act like the new you. You're such a whiner. Ron doesn't even do this, and he's afraid of spiders. You are the worst excuse for a wizard I've ever seen. Not including Neville or Seamus.'  
'I've got to do something. I'm not staying here and going around looking for Hermione artifacts, and-and seeing what she did when she was around...20 years ago...' Harry shook his head. Quietly getting up, Harry walked over to his trunk. Opening it slowly, he searched for a clear piece of parchment and found it. Getting an ink bottle and quill, he scribbled a quick note to Ron.  
  
Ron,  
  
I'm going back to find Hermione. I don't know if she'll want to come back, but I hope she does. I'm not going to stay away long, so don't worry about me if I don't show up for a week. There's something really important I have to talk to her about. See you later.  
  
Harry  
  
Retrieving the Time Turner from under the pillow, Harry turned it twice, and quickly did fall asleep.  
  
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When Harry awoke the next morning, his heart swelling with happiness; he was going to make everything right between him and Hermione. He got to his feet, and quickly got dressed. Running towards the common room, he fell over on the couch and landed right at the bottom of it.  
  
If you're not the one then why does my soul feel glad today?  
  
If you're not the one then why does my hand fit yours this way?  
  
If you are not mine then why does your heart return my call  
  
If you are not mine would I have the strength to stand at all  
  
Shaking his head in annoyance, he attempted to get up, and failed. "Ugh," He said quietly. Turning over on his ribcage, and then standing up, brushing off the dust from his robes. "Harry?" Came a soft voice from behind him. Harry spun around. "OH! Hermione!" He said quickly. He tried to find the right words to say. "Listen, I-I-I-I uh...I'm really sor-" He began, but was interrupted. "What are you doing back here, so soon?" Hermione asked coldly. "It's not as if I wanted you back, anyway. You were right, I was much better off without you. I DON'T need you!" she said, before stalking off towards the Girls' Dormitories. Harry sighed, and ran up to the Boys' Dormitory.  
  
I never know what the future brings  
  
But I know you are here with me now  
  
We'll make it through  
  
And I hope you are the one I share my life with  
  
He carefully avoided eye contact with James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius when they passed him coming out of the dormitory. He was so jealous. Jealous of the fact that Hermione would choose the past over him. 'I hate Hermione.' Harry thought coldly. 'I'm not going to even bother trying to make up with her. She's turned on me.' Hermione's words were resounding in his head. 'I don't need you...I don't need you...I don't need you...' The words pulled and cut at his heartstrings. It wasn't the fact that the words were...how they were said, it was that it was his best friend that said it. 'That's it. If Hermione wants to play like that, I can, too. She is now being changed from best friend to mere acquaintance. I hate Hermione.' Was all he could think of, but in his heart, he was only lying to himself, but quickly realized he was going to be in the dormitory, and couldn't do that when he was standing against a stone wall. He ran into the dormitory.  
  
I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand  
  
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?  
  
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?  
  
When he got to his bed, he flopped onto his bed, facing into his pillow. 'I hate Hermione.' Harry thought. But he knew he was just lying to himself. He once again sighed. Then, as he had been the night before, started silently crying. After about 2 hours, his pillow was soaked, and he was breathless. 'Once again, you've proven yourself to be weaker than Neville, and you're actually doing something that a girl would do—cry over the person you like.' Harry thought to himself.  
  
If I don't need you then why am I crying on my bed?  
  
If I don't need you then why does your name resound in my head?  
  
If you're not for me then why does this distance maim my life?  
  
If you're not for me then why do I dream of you as my wife?  
  
So, Harry stayed in bed, for 9 hours. He eventually got up to go to the bathroom, and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were red, and so was his face, which was strange, because he was normally pale. He was still extremely skinny and weak, and he didn't think his legs were working right. He had had trouble getting 10 feet to the bathroom. He heard the door open. Fortunately, his bed was nearest to the bathroom, so he barely had to run and jump to get to his bed. He covered himself in blankets, and buried his face in his pillows.  
"He really needs to learn some manners." Said Sirius. "Yeah, making that poor girl cry like that." Agreed Remus. "I know, what a selfish punk!" James added. Peter kept quiet. Harry figured they were talking about him until— "Snivellus is such a loser! Pushing Lily into the wall like that, just because she was being nice. It's his fault he dropped his books, he should help himself, but Lily just has to be so nice---"  
Harry once again started to hate Snape. Once again, he had managed to upset Lily, which upset Harry because she was such a nice girl and— Snape didn't deserve to be treated well at all. Subconsciously, Harry dropped his arm over the edge of the bed. The other boys noticed, and Remus said, "Looks like somebody likes to eavesdrop." Harry could hear the footsteps drawing nearer. His body stiffened, and he froze. His heart was pounding, and he felt like he was going to have a stroke. He closed his eyes, and without thinking, he brought his arm back up to the side of the bed. He felt someone sitting on the edge of the bed.  
Harry stopped breathing. For a split second, he felt dead. Everything happened so fast. He was being turned around, and his body was stiff, his skin cold, and his eyes closed, making it seem as if he were dead. For some really unbeknownst reason, he opened his eyes, showing off the red puffiness of them. At the sight of Sirius' face, he started breathing again. His body softened, and his skin warmed. Looking up at Sirius, he hadn't been too mad at anyone. Except for Snape, that is. "Hey, so...I see you're back from the future...again." He said slowly. Harry stayed silent. "So, your friend told me about what happened earlier, and I'm sorry. She never really was that upset with you, she just makes it seem like that." Sirius explained. Apparently, Hermione had told Sirius more than him.  
  
I don't know why you're so far away  
  
But I know that this much is true  
  
We'll make it through  
  
And I hope you are the one I share my life with  
  
And I wish that you could be the one I die with  
  
And I pray in you're the one I build my home with  
  
I hope I love you all my life  
  
"So...what's up? There's not much that's happened in the last two days, so...uh...yeah." Sirius said lamely. "I'm really sorry that she yelled at you, and made you so upset. You know girls, though. They always think they're the dominant species. Who needs them, anyway?" Harry nodded. "Well, I think she found a new boyfriend though. It's not official, but she's been seeing a lot of Peter lately and..." Sirius trailed off. 'My God, she's seeing the traitor. Now I really DO hate her. She is now officially a traitor.' Harry thought in disgust. Pulling free of Sirius' grasp, he exited the dormitory. He didn't bother to listen to any of the people in the common room, including Hermione, whom he passed on his way out of the common room. He had bumped into her, and she had turned around to see who had hit her, and nobody was there; Harry had quickly run from the area.  
Hermione sat, sulking in the Common Room alone. She couldn't believe he was acting so...childish. Maybe her outburst had caused this whole thing. 'No, couldn't have been.' She thought. She was never one to admit she was wrong. "Hermione! How are you? It's like I haven't talked to you in ages!" came Lily's voice from behind. Hermione forced a smile, and Lily sat down next to her. "So, how have you been?" Lily asked happily. "You look upset. What's wrong? I can't see why you're so—Oh, I know, it's that evil son of mine, isn't it?" She added. 'I shouldn't be perfect, because I'm not.' Hermione thought. "No! It's not his fault! It's mine. If I hadn't said what I did, he might not be so upset. I'm really sorry, but he won't talk to me." Hermione said in one breath. Lily looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry. I know he'll talk to you again, but...I'm not exactly sure how. You're best friends, for god's sake, and I know he'll talk to you. I just know it." Lily said supportively.  
"How? He won't even look at me. He won't stay in the same room for 1 minute, and he's always wandering around the school. He doesn't hold still, even when he sleeps. If he sleeps at all." Hermione pouted. Lily pondered on this. "Hermione, if he doesn't sleep and you say he doesn't hold still, that means he won't stay in the same room with James, either. He's just as mad at him, maybe more. He leaves the room when everyone else goes to bed. Don't you get it? He won't leave the common room, and that's where he goes. He just leaves the dormitories and stays up all night. It's no wonder he doesn't talk to anyone. He thinks everyone hates him." Lily explained. Hermione's eyes widened, and she said, "Thank you! Thank You!! You won't regret this, I promise!" and fled the common room, out to the rest of the school.  
  
Turning a corner, and striding down a corridor, Hermione looked around anxiously for her friend. "Where in the world is he?" she asked herself. As if on cue, Harry came down from a staircase as though he was absentminded, and stepped down slowly. Lifting his head, he saw Hermione, turned around, and walked in the other direction. "Harry! What's wrong with you? What's wrong with me?" She shouted, but he'd already turned a corner and left.  
  
Flopping down on his bed, Harry looked around the dormitory, making sure that nobody was inside it before drawing his curtains, and going to bed. Several hours later, he awoke from a bad dream, and carefully poked his head outside of his bed, looked around, and saw that everyone was in bed. Silently, he got out of bed, and slowly walked out of the dormitory towards the common room.  
Sitting in the big armchair, he looked into what was once flames and they had since died down. He sighed; nothing was ever going to be the same again. His throat began to burn, and his eyes began to water. 'Mama Mia, here we go again.' He thought. But his tears never had the chance to fall; Hermione's voice came floating from the stairs. "Harry? What are you doing up so late. It's 2:00 in the morning, you should be sleeping." She said softly. "First of all, I'm not up late if it's two-in-the-morning, and I always stay up late. I couldn't sleep, Miss Know-It-All." His voice was hoarse. Hermione looked at him curiously, and walked over to the armchair. She couldn't see his face properly, because the flames had died down. "Lumos," she muttered, lighting the tip of her wand, and holding it up in front of his face.  
Her mind was shattered at what she saw. His once-green eyes had since then paled to a light gray, and the black under his eyes was almost as dark as Malfoy's heart. His eyes were also red, and his face was thinner than usual, and his bones and blood vessels were almost all visible from him not eating. This whole time that Hermione was looking him over, Harry was looking down, and making sure that she didn't notice anything else. Finally, she lifted the sleeve of his shirt and said, "It wasn't just a scratch. You lied; you did it on purpose, didn't you?" Harry looked up into her chocolate brown eyes, and slowly, reluctantly, and sadly, he nodded. "Why? Why did you do it? If you were that upset, you should've just come back---or forward...whatever. You would've still had me or Ron." Hermione said desperately.  
Harry only shrugged. "I guess I really didn't think about—" "That's right. You didn't think, you prat! You're so pathetic, and I can't believe you'd do something so-so-so-so idiotic! Honestly! And you are right! You're just a kid, but you still need to grow up!" Hermione burst out. Harry stayed silent. "Good, you're finally learning to keep quiet when you need to. The last thing I need is some fool like you complaining with that whole 'Woe is me, woe is me' garbage!" That was the flaw that broke the camel's back. "Listen, if you honestly hate me that much, you could've just said so. I don't need you. You were right." Harry said icily, turning to walk back up to the dormitory. "And just where do you think you're going?" Hermione said in an Umbridge- like tone. Harry stopped and turned. "Not that you care, Mudblood, but I'm leaving you here for the rest of forever. Have a nice life with your new boyfriend." Hermione was shocked that he'd actually call her that. She then felt extremely ashamed of her outburst.  
'Why does he always have to get mad at me for the worst kinds of things?' Hermione thought. Lily came down a few minutes later. "Judging by the fact that you're standing in here alone and I woke up to you screaming, I would have to say that that didn't go too well." She said, sighing. Hermione nodded. "I don't see why you must do that. He's very...well, he's emotionally unstable, you can tell." Lily said. "You know, I don't understand why, but I think he's trying to avoid you. What did you say to him a few days ago, anyway?" Lily asked. Hermione swallowed hard, and then started repeating all of her words from 2 days before. "I told him I didn't need him, that he was worthless, and nobody needed him...at all." Hermione said sadly. "That's probably the worst thing you could've told him, you know." Lily said disapprovingly.  
  
I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand  
  
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am  
  
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?  
  
'Cause I miss you, body and soul so strong that it takes my breath away  
  
And I breathe you into my heart and pray for the strength to stand today  
  
'Cause I love you, whether it's wrong or right  
  
And though I can't be with you tonight  
  
And know my heart is by your side  
  
"I know. I can't believe I said that. He's going to hate me now and forever, and he'll never want to see me again. I'm so sorry. He won't believe that, now. He's just going to push it all away, and he's probably going to stop playing Quidditch, and- Oh, no. He has a game in two days. If I don't make up with him, he'll mess up and lose. The team hates it when he loses." Hermione said sadly.  
"Why is it 'when he loses'? What position does he play?" Lily asked. "Seeker. He's the most important player on the team. If he loses, it's like...Voldemort wins; everyone hates him, and he's never forgiven by them, and he'll have to transfer schools. Oh, great. Me and my big mouth." Hermione said.  
  
In the dormitory, Harry was writing a note to Sirius, telling him everything Hermione had said. He dropped the note on his bed, and left the past. It was time for Quidditch practice.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________  
  
A/N: So, what do you think? Will...  
Harry and Hermione make up before it's too late?  
Harry win the Quidditch Match?  
Harry make up with his father?  
Sirius get the note?  
Hedwig be okay? FIND OUT IN CHAPTER NINE: UNTITLED FOR NOW. PLUS, ENJOY EVERYTHING ELSE I'M PLANNING ON WRITING, INCLUDING:  
  
Grave Dance: Harry has a correct vision in his sleep of Voldemort dancing on his grave  
  
Magic Guns: Short Fic about Harry going to defeat Voldemort, and getting a little bit more than he bargained for.  
  
Harry Potter and the Case of the Missing Boxers: Title speaks for itself. 


End file.
